Locomotive



N. T. MCKEE Dec. 10, 1929.

LOCOMOTIVE Filed NOV. 1'7, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

/l/EAT. 7 /VS A155. BY

A TTORNE Y.

N. T. McKEE Dec. 10, 1929.

LOCOMOTIVE Filed Nov. 1'7, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet /VEAL 7." /1/ -a K EE. INVENTOR.

n. m T. T. A

Patented Dec. 10, 1929 TTzEIS PATENT QFF'CE NEALT. Mxnnon :enoNxvmLnl New Yann, AssreNon 'ro COMPANY,'- ING.; for NNW YORK, N. Y.

.AIxIERICAN TEROTTLE LQCOMOTIVE pplcatgn lgedi lfvembr 17, 1926. serial No. 148,870.

My invention relates to locomotives and has particular reference 'to the boiler'dryyfpipe ythes'teav'n' cpiitrfolling means' iii steam linev leading to the locomotive enc'ines.

'Herle't-o'liore,A locomotives havev` generali been equipped 'with throttle valvesflo'ca-ted Within the steamdome oi the boiler and with the steam Apipeleadini'gj to the engine'through the steam space the boiler and the forward .Y Hf .'f Y i ,flue sheet thereof. This form` or conetrnction has Inadefnecessarylthe use ovpiping Within the beilerbepane niemeer-ag eener pressnre, as with the throttle' inl the steam dome closed the portion ofthe steam pipe lying vvitll'n thesteain space yof lthe boiler is subj ectedve Verirally to 'full boiier pressnre.

'In somenrecent forms constr etien, the throttle `valve has been placed ont e of tne boiler, and in ,cases *Where 'the' l motives have been eqiiipped livith snperheaters, bettve'en the snpelrlie ter andthe engine cylinders; XYithtlieforms of outside throttle heretoiorensed, however, it; has been necessary to Vnot' been 'fully'relized inthe forms heretofore' employed because of the inacc'ess'iuillty of theemergency shut-off valve'nsed'fin conjunction' withV the oiitside throttle Fi'irthermore,in a'ctiialpra'c'tic'e the emergencys'hntvalves are? not tested as vfreqnen y asv they nl@ 50. en'

Stlge 'use @triplal e of'with's't ling Le! .11;1 i' Ji... :.i- V. 'a tai. boiler pressure,'for the emergencyvalv When n sedI prodnces .a condition exactlythe saine as if the throttle valve were located 1n the dome @ed Vwere y@lf2-Seek in, Welche-S@ the Steam rlp@ Within the boiler would be subjected to 1full boiler pressure.

lt is also desirable to provide the maximum accessibility to the interior of a locomotive boi'le'r,"an'd the: steam dome provides an' openino large enough for a manto enter the boiler except for the fact that the presence of the usual throttle or emergency valve obstructs this possible entrance to the boiler.

My invention hasl for its principal object theprovision of apparatus which Will enable the advantages of the ontsid" throttle tov be realized to their fullest cxtent'iby placing both the throttle valve and the emergclI valve in an accessible positiony ontelde of the locomotive boiler. linother object of the in vention is the 'provision yofen improved form ofsteam drypipe' Within the boiler ivhicli will benot'only less expensive than-the forms heretofQre lis'ed, but which' will Ain addition provide accessibilityito the interior ofthe boiler' Wayof Vthe''s' team"dome, and Which'vvill in addition assiir'e the delivery from the boilerl of dry'sternny Qtherand-more 'specic objects of'iny 'invention asfvrell the advantages 'to be derived from the' use thereof, more "lly, from thel fol,- lotving detailedV 4d'escrifption of azpreij'err'ed embodiment illnsti'atedV the accompanying drawings" 'in "which Eig.- "l, is a fragmentary vertical'section throiigh the sinokfefb'ox and forward end of the boiler of a'locomotive'to which my nvention'liasbeen' applied'. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section "taken ontbelin'e 2-2of Fig'. l.Y Fig.' 3 is a sectio'n't/aken on the line 3-43O Fig. l. Fig. .2l a horizontal section taken lthrough the smoke-bonv of Vthe locomotive with certain portions of the iignre broken for cleainess,'a1id Eig. 5 fis a section taken on the line 5- 5 of Fig'. Referring now to Fig. 1, Ifhavel illns'trated my 'improved construction as vapplied to a locomotive equipped with the usnal form of fire tube superheater., in the vheader of Vvwhich there is incorporated a mltiple valve throt tle of the general type shown in YReissue Patent No. 16,285 granted' MarchQtlr, 1926, to R. Brown, but is to'be `und,erstood that this specilic form of valve'constrnction is illustrative 'only and the inventionis not to be limited thereby. In the figure, the numeral 1 represents the main boiler sheet which is extended forward of the tine sheet 2 y to form the smokabox 3 in which is located steam or outlet header 6 from which superheated steam is delivered te the engine through the steam pipes 'l'. The headers 4 and 6 are each formed with interleaving fingers, from some of which saturated steam is delivered to the supeihcater units 8 located in flues 9, and to the others of which superh'eated steam is delivered from the superheat er units. j

The engine throttle valve comprises a plurality of small poppet valves 10 located in thel outlet header 6 and arranged to be progresa sively opened by the throttle control rod 1 1 through the medium of the cam shaft 12. This form of construction is well-known and the details thereof need not be described further.

In accordance with my invention, the emer gency shut-olf valve required with this form of thottle is placed adjacent the steam outlet of the boiler so that it may act to shut od the steam from the entire steam line. As applied to the multiple throttle illustrated, the emergency shut-oV valve comprises a plurality of small poppet valves 13 similar to the main throttle valves but distributed along the inlet header 1, which is divided into an upper steam inlet chamber eatin communication with the boiler outlet 5 and a lower chamber 41 from which steam is distributed to the header lingers leading to the superheater units. As will be apparent from Fig. 1, the several valves 13 control a plurality of ports joining the two header compartments, and are so ar ranged that the normal action of the steam flowing through the header tends to force these valves to their closed position. In order to raisethe valves 13 and permit steam 4to flow through the super-heater to the main throttle valve, a cam shaft 14 is provided which carries a series of cam arms 14, each of which engages a suitable slot in one of the valves 13V so that rotation of the cani shaft by means of the control rod 15 serves to open these valves. The rod 15 is connected to any suitable form of operating lever equipped with a ratchet or equivalent mechanism (not shown) for holding it in fixed position, and this mechanism may be, if desired, located in the engine cab or may,if

desired, be mounted on the boiler adjacent c the operating shaft 1&1.

The operation of this emergency valve will be quite apparent, the several valves 13 being normally maintained in their open po- ,sition by means of the cam shaft la to per,-

If mit steamto pass through the superheater and throttle to the engine. In the event of throttle or other leakage in the steam line, it is only necessary to release the mechanism holding the valves 13 in their open position, whereupon the unbalanced steam pressure on these valves forces them to their closed position and shuts off the steam supply to the engine steam line. In this connection, it is to be noted that by the use of valves of the type shown, the danger of their sticking in open position because of scale formation is reduced to a minimum because of the absence of sliding surfaces, and it is further to be noted that these valves will be forced to a seat by full boiler pressure.

In prior installations Where outside throttles have been used in conjunction with emergency shut-olf valves located in the steam dome, some form of safety valve has been required in the superheater in order to re- N lieve excessive pressure which may be developed therein, with both throttle and emergency valves closed, due to the evapora.- tion of water which might have been carried over into the superheater. structure arranged in accordance with my invention, the necessity for a separate safety valve is eliminated by the provision of an auxiliary valve 13a which is provided not only for the purpose of relieving excess pressure from the superheater, but also for the purpose of admitting steam to the superheater for balancing the valves 13. It will be obvious that the valves 13, once they are closed, must be opened against a very heavy pressure and in order to facilitate the opening of these valves against boiler pressure,

' the valve 13a is provided having a slot therein in which the cam arm 141 fits so that it is substantially in contact with the valve 3 when the latter is seated. The slots in the stems of valves13 provide a substantial clearance above the arms 14a when the cam is in the closed position shown in the figure, so that when the operating shaft 14 is rotated to open the valve, the auxiliary valve 13:L is opened rst. The opening of this valve admits steam into the superheater, which, if the main throttle is closed, 'forms a closed balancing chamber in which the pressure builds up to a point Where the valves 13 are substantially balanced.y After the balancing of these valves by steam pressure, the operating shaft 14.- may be Arotated with very little effort to open them. The stem of valve 13a is slotted so that a substantial clearance exists ybetween `the bottom of the slot and the lower face of the cam arm 14:1), and in case excessive pressure for any reason develops in the super-heater, this pressure will arms14a lpermitting these valves ralso to be lVith a teas@ as shown in order that mechanical pressure may be exerted on the valves 13 to bring them to their seats. If desired, the valves 13 may be allowed to lift under the influence of steam.

pressure in the superheater by arranging the cam arms 14a and 14h and the slots which they respectively engage so that the arms 14a may be lifted slightly above the lower edge of their slots before the arm 14h contacts with the upper end of the slot in valve 13a.

With the emergency valve located outside the boiler, it will be apparent that even though this valve is closed, the dry pipe in the boiler leading to the steam outlet will be subjected only to a balanced steam pressure, and for this reason a conduit formed of comparatively light sheet metal is suliicient, as its sole function is steam to the boiler outlet.

In accordance with my invention, the usual f-ylindrical pipe is replaced by a trough-like sheet metal member 16 flanged along its longitudinal edges as at 17 and secured to the top of the main boiler shell by welding or other suitable methods. At its forward end, the member 16 is enlarged and the flanged end 18 is secured to the forward flue sheet 2 in any suitable manner. The enlargement at the forward end of the member 16 provides a depending pocket 19 opposite the outlet 5 in the flue sheet 2 through which communication is established directly with the saturated header i of the superheater, the latter being attached to the flue sheet by any form of suitable joint 20. s

The member 16 entends rearwardly to a point behind the steamv dome 21 and terminates in an enlarged circular portion directly below the steam dome as appears more from Fig. 3. The outer edge of memis secured to the main boiler shell and ly of the steam dome the member 16 en with an open-ended cylindrical por'- ber 1y lich extends upward to a point near the top of the steam dome. The diameter of the c irv'linder 22 is proportioned so that the annular space 23 between it and the side walls of the dome is just sui'licient to provide the necessary steam flow area, and it is carried upward into the steam dome as far as is possi ble without constricting the passage between the top thereof and the top of the steam dome to an area less than that of the space 23.

lThe steam dome is provided with a removable cap 24 and as will be readily apparent from Fig. 1. the arrangement of the cylinder 22 is such that an open passage of large area is provided for access to the interior of the boiler through the opening in the top of the steam dome. It will be furthermore evident that by carrying the cylinder as s nearly as possible to the top of the steam dome,

to supply dry the position of the steam inlet ofthe dry pipe passage 25t is such as vto obtain the dryest .steam possible. x 'i In view of the position of the emergency valve `outside the boiler, itis not essentialthat the joint Ybetween the boiler shell .and the flanges 17 and 1S be made steam-tight, as leakage of steam int-o .the dry pipe .passage 25 through these jointsis of no material consequence, but it is preferable that substantially tight. jointsbe made YinA order that the entire steam supply may enter the dry pipe .through the inlet placedat maximumy distance 4ab'ive,,the water line. vof the boiler.

It will be obvious that many changes and lvariatiQHS in the specific const ruction'and arrangement of the apparatus illustrated may be made, and it is to be understood that my Ainvention'is not to, be limited bythe illustrative embodiment shown, but is to be limited only byy the scope of the appended claims..

AIclaim: Y 1 "In alocomotive, a boiler havinga steam outlet, a superheater inlet header indirect communication with said outlet, emergency valve ineens located 'in said header to shut olf .steam iow, therethrough, said `means., comprising a valveurged'to closed position by steam flpw from the boiler, manually controlled means normally holding' said valve in open position, a superheater outlet header, and a throttle located in said outlet header.

2. In a locomotive, a boiler having asteam out-let, a superheater inlet header in direct communication with said outlet, emergency valve means located in said header to shut olf steam flow therethrough, said means comprising a plurality of valves urged to closed position by steam flow from the boiler, manually controlled means normally holding said valves in open position, a superheater outlet header, and a throttle located in said outlet header.

3. In a locomotive, a boiler having a steam outlet a su erheater comirisinG' inlet and Outlet headers, emergency valve means located in said inlet header for controlling the steam flow therethrough, said means including a. valve urged to closed position by steam flow from the boiler, manually controlled means for opening said valve, a throttle located in said outlet header, andan auxiliary valve for admitting steam to said superheater to balance said first named valve.

4.. In a locomotive, a. boiler having a steam outlet, a superheater inlet header, a partition dividing said header into an upper inlet chamber in direct communication with said outlet, and a lower outlet chamber, a plurality of ports in said partition, valves located in said ports, said valves being urged to closed position by gravity and by steam flow from the boiler, and manually controlled means normally holding said valves in open position.

5. In a locomotive boiler, a cylindricalboiler shell having` a steam dome opening, a forward flue sheet having a steam outlet therein, and an inverted trough-like member secured to the upper portion of said shell around the dome opening and the outlet and forming with the shell a dry pipe connecting the steam dome and said outlet, said member having an upwardly extending cylindrical portion located in said dome and spaced from the Walls thereof to form a dry pipe inlet at the top of said dome.

l6. In a locomotive, a boiler having a steam dome, a dry pipe extending into said steam dome, said dry pipe comprising a cylindrical section terminating adjacent the top of said dome, said section providing a steam inlet through the interior thereof and forming with the Walls of said dome an annular dry pipe passage Surrounding said section.

7 In a locomotive, a steam dome, a dry pipe having an inlet end formed by an openended vertical cylindrical section spaced from the Walls of said dome and terminating adjacent the top thereof, and a cover plate removably ysecured to the top of said dome above said cylindrical section, whereby access is provided to the interior of said boiler through said dome and section. v

NEAL T. MCKEE. 

